The fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) on Plastic Pollution concluded on Sunday in Busan, South Korea, failing to reach an agreement on a draft treaty to curb plastic pollution.
The week-long INC session in Busan is the final meeting under the initial mandate, bringing together over 1,400 representatives from 178 UN member states and 2,300 participants from intergovernmental organizations, UN agencies, NGOs, and media outlets. Despite extensive discussions, the participating parties failed to reach a consensus on the treaty, and negotiations will continue.
The major challenges to finalizing the treaty include balancing global ambition and feasibility, and addressing the varied reality and capability of developing countries, noted Chinese representatives.
"China places high importance on plastic pollution management, and was among the first countries to implement policies to control unnecessary single-use plastics usage. During the negotiation, China played a constructive role based on our own experiences while accommodating diverse concerns of all parties, and tried to provide solutions to subjects with divergence. But we should also notice that the issue of plastic pollution is complicated, involving all aspects of life and production. We need to comprehensively consider all sections of plastic production, usage, recycling, and management, as well as the influence on upstream and downstream industries and people's daily lives," said Zhou Guomei, Director General of the Department of International Cooperation under the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.
UN plastic pollution summit fails to reach agreement
UN plastic pollution summit fails to reach agreement
China's achievements and cooperation initiatives in the technology and innovation sector have been highlighted at the ongoing Zhongguancun Forum (ZGC Forum) in Beijing.
The five-day forum opened on Wednesday and has attracted over 1,000 guests from more than 100 countries and regions to exchange views under the theme of "Full Integration Between Technological and Industrial Innovation".
This year's event showcased over 500 cutting-edge achievements across fields such as embodied intelligence, smart manufacturing and biomedicine, fully demonstrating China's latest scientific and technological advancements and innovations.
"[I'm] really impressed about the level of modernization and dynamism of the technology industry and AI here in China. We need support, commitment and leadership. China is providing all of them and in particular in the emerging technologies, including AI," said Sergio Mujica, secretary-general of the International Organization for Standardization.
At the forum's annual meeting, 60 parallel sessions are scheduled -- 21 of them debuting this year -- furthering global technology exchange.
"China is opening its full technical infrastructure to the world, and I think specifically for the Global South. This acts as a major advancement and it shows the level of responsibility and openness that China is showing towards the advancement of science and the collaboration," said Said Taha, a consultant for the Egyptian Ministry of Education.
At the 2026 Zhongguancun International Technology Trade Fair, part of the ZGC Forum, over 500 high-quality projects and scientific and technological achievements were on display, establishing a multi-level, wide-ranging platform for technology transaction and cooperation.
The attendees hailed the fair for bringing together global companies and facilitating exchanges.
"The innovation here in China is so attractive that a lot of global companies are coming to China in order to do the business deals in order to bring the products to the global markets," said Joseph Scheeren, member of the French National Academy of Pharmacy.
"The ZGC Forum provides an open platform for dialogue, and we hope to participate in more international cooperation in the future to promote Chinese technology and products to the world," said Yang Zhilin, CEO of Moonshot AI, a Chinese tech company.
China's technological contributions highlighted at Zhongguancun Forum
